¤ As often happens, Matsec examinations at ordinary level will clash with those of foreign examination bodies. It has been officially stated that since the latter are held worldwide, there would definitely not be any changes. However, the local Matsec board ought to know well enough that on May 22, the Matsec 4 p.m. Ordinary Level English Literature examination will be held at the same time as the London Chemistry 2. There are similar clashes throughout the examination season.

Old Staff

¤ Din l-Art Helwa is no doubt doing its best to instil a love of our land in its people. Therefore, it is indeed a pity that the collection of fossils in the showcase at their premises is incomplete, with items missing from behind the labels describing them, and some other items patently mislabelled. Moreover, the three models of buildings in the bottom shelf are not identified.

Dinner Date

¤ The management of Gozo Channel has finally decided to farm out, as it were, its catering division, a decision which has been much welcomed by commuters, especially the regular ones. Another establishment, which ought to change caterers forthwith, is the university.

Red Pepper

¤ The bleak huts at Bahar ic-Caghaq, annexed to the Salini saltpans, are being torn down. One hopes the area will finally be given the sprucing up it deserves, even seeing that it is on the direct route from Bugibba to Paceville, used by thousands of motorists, especially over the weekend.

Motor Carts

¤ Different government departments and ministries have different ideas as to how their vehicles ought to be parked in front of their buildings. They are either left open, with the keys in the ignition, so that anyone who saunters by may steal them - or closed, with air-conditioners turned on, so that the Very Important People who use them suffer as little discomfort as possible upon climbing in!

Plain Truth

¤ Are there any medals for efficiency going around? Action was taken by the local council in less than two hours' time, after the filing of a complaint by a member of the public about the health hazard in the area of St Lucy Street, corner with Zenqa Street, Naxxar.

Law Courting

¤ Three traffic policemen were standing statuesquely astride the street at the Kappara roundabout on Tuesday, October 15, at around 6.15 p.m. Their mission was to deny traffic from Gzira direct access to San Gwann and St Julian's, diverting it rather to Tal-Qroqq. In the utter chaos that followed, negotiating the roundabout and arriving back at the Kappara one, a mean distance of 10 metres, took nigh on a quarter of an hour.

Clean Sweep

¤ Vittoriosa local council is doing its utmost to keep the place spick and span. However, an area in Cardinal Street, forking into Wenzu Dyer Street, appears to have eluded attention. About a year ago, work was taken in hand on the embellishment of the area, but after being stopped abruptly, it has not been continued. Besides appearing neglected, the area is very dangerous.

Street Wise

¤ Whatever happened to the "polluter pays principle"? Sliema residents are finding out to their chagrin that many contractors do not care about restoring things to their original state, after leaving a building site. A case in point is St Margaret Street, corner with Dingli Street, which has been left in a mess for the past eight years.

Clock Watching

¤ One wonders why the Public Transport Authority allows timepieces to be erected at bus termini. Very often, they either do not work, or, having stopped and been re-started, they do not show the correct time. This means that drivers no longer have to give lame excuses as to why they were early (or late).

Prayer Talk

¤ On Sunday, October 13, in Mdina, the cathedral, museums, and art exhibitions were closed and therefore, deserted. This is a real pity, because there were a lot of visitors, some of whom thought it would have been a good opportunity to see the buildings from inside. At the rate of a miserly 15 cents a go, no doubt many of those present would have found no objection to contributing to the employees' wages.